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BITE SIZE ARDUINO – RGB LED

A RGB LED is a LED that can change the colour of the light it produces depending on which of the LEDs’ Connectors have current flowing through them. The LED has 4 connectors, one connector for red, one for green, one for blue and then finally an anode or a cathode, depending if the RGB is a common anode or cathode LED.

So what is the difference between common anode and common cathode?

Well a RGB LED is actually a combination of 3 LEDs, a red LED, a green LED and a blue LED. All LEDs have 2 connectors, an anode and a cathode. So depending how these LEDs are connected together determines if they share an anode or a cathode, thus common anode RGB LED or common cathode RGB LED. The Anode\Cathode leg can be identified as it is the longest leg on the LED. Below are 2 diagrams that illustrates the difference discussed.

Common Cathode:

Common Anode:

How these 2 different RGB LEDs are connected to a circuit also differs, let us first have a look at a circuit that contains a common cathode RGB LED:

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One thought on “BITE SIZE ARDUINO – RGB LED”

Hmm. Just put one of these together with a potentiometer yesterday, but with only 3 colors. Looks like I’ll have to go back and add some more colors before the weekends over. (Just starting to learn this stuff)